The present invention relates to the field of lighters, such as cigarette lighters. More particularly the invention relates to safety lighters having rotary striker wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,625, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, discloses a state of the art safety lighter with an improved striker wheel and striker wheel mounting frame. The lighter has an igniter having a striker wheel which rotates about an axis in response to force applied to the wheel by a user""s finger. The annular recessed center portion of the striker wheel""s outer annular surface has protuberances formed thereon (or grooves formed therein), while the annular unrecessed lateral portions of the striker wheel""s outer annular surface are smooth. Further, the striker wheel is mounted to the lighter in slots. The striker wheel is pressed from a first position having insufficient spring force to cause the lighter flint to spark when the striker wheel is rotated into a second position having sufficient spring force to cause the lighter flint to spark when the striker wheel is rotated.
While the depression of the striker wheel from a first position to a second position is an effective safety mechanism, the present invention provides an improvement whereby the rotoring striker wheel remains in the same position and rotates about the same horizontal axis. There is no up or down displacement of the striker wheel. Rather, the present invention utilizes rotary hoods which are displaced from a first position to a second position to engage the outer edges of the striker wheel to translate rotary motion to the wheel and ignite the lighter.
The present invention is a lighter comprising an igniter having a striker wheel which rotates about an axis in response to force applied to the wheel by a user""s thumb (or any other finger or hand part). The striker wheel has an outer annular surface having an annular recessed center portion and annular unrecessed lateral portions.
The annular recessed portion has a rough surface with protuberances formed thereon (or grooves formed therein). The annular unrecessed lateral portions of the striker wheels may be smooth or have protuberances thereon, depending upon the embodiment.
Rotary wheel hoods circumferentially surround the annular unrecessed lateral portions of the striker wheel. The hoods have inner and outer annular surfaces. The hoods also have a central opening formed therethrough to rotatably receive the central axle of the striker wheel. The central opening has a diameter greater than the diameter of the central axle. Thus, the rotary wheel hoods are movable from a first position where the inner surface of the hoods do not contact the striker wheel to a second position where the inner surface of the hoods engage the striker wheel along the annular unrecessed lateral portions and impart rotational movement to the striker wheel to create sparks. The sparks ignite the lighter when the igniter is activated. The inner and outer surfaces of the hoods may be smooth or have protuberances thereon, again, depending upon the embodiment of the invention.